The Twelve Apostles, Victoria

Ditch the drive! The best way to experience Australia’s natural wonder is on foot, writes JESSICA MULTARI

I’d always imagined driving the Great Ocean Road in a convertible with my hair tied in a scarf like the glamorous broads in Hollywood classics. Instead, I hiked it. Over four days and 55km, without a hint of glamour – at least not in my direction. Australian Walking Company’s Twelve Apostles Lodge Walk, though, is as glam as hiking experiences get – luxe digs, daily foot spas, flowing wine, endless canapes, and bubbles by the sparkling Gellibrand River, in this special corner of the country.

The Twelve Apostles Lodge hides three hours south-west of Melbourne, in a remote pocket of Johanna. We’re picked up at the airport by Hugo, one of our two tour guides, whose enthusiasm is so contagious he later thrills me with a lesson in fungi.

SERENITY PLUS

A walk around the eco-retreat and I’m muttering, “How’s the serenity?” Shown to my room, I throw myself on the cloud-like bed, thankful I get to return here for the next three nights and not some flimsy tent I’d never be able to pitch. The ensuite holds the largest shower I’ve ever had the pleasure of singing in.

Hikers get exclusive access to the lodge, which makes for cosy gatherings in the dining room, where we fuel up with big brekkies, and unwind over threecourse dinners. Forget bush tucker – even our lunchboxes burst with gourmet goods (like pasta that rivals my nonna’s) packed for us by supremely hospitable property managers Ben and wife Ania, who bakes treats each night for our morning-tea stops the next day.

The walk stretches 104km along Victoria’s windswept coastline, through Great Otway National Park, and this hike covers half that. Moderate in pace and difficulty, its handful of heart-pumping hills and steep staircases are worth every bead of sweat. At The Gables lookout, for instance, I watch the

swirling sea crash against some of our tallest coastal cliffs, and one lone seal take on the swell.

A copperhead spotting on day one rattles a city girl like me, so I thank Mother Nature when she sends a sweet swamp wallaby and rare bandicoot my way.

HIGHLIGHTS

A hike along Milanesia Beach triggers a story about 105-millionyear-old dinosaur footprints found here in 2010. Guide number two Tom is a walking encyclopaedia – I hit him up for answers to life’s big questions like, “Do ants chat to each other?”

Sensing our curiosity, the boys treat us to a spontaneous night-time excursion to spot glow worms. It’s a real highlight – and that’s without the hot choccie and marshmallows on the chilly drive home.

Three days of traversing the coastline, through bush, on sand, over rocks, past shipwrecks, and it’s not until day four I catch my first glimpse of the Apostles.

Leading the way is a troop of roos bouncing ahead along the track. It’s a pinch-myself moment as I realise it doesn’t get any more Australian.

As we inch closer to the cluster of not 12 but eight limestone stacks, I’m struck by their grandeur – the way they soar some 45 metres from the raging Southern Ocean.

Like magic, the grey skies and heavy rain disappear just in time for our bird’s-eye view. For all the Lodge Walk’s thoughtful inclusions, it’s today’s 15-minute chopper ride over the formations that makes for a finale so grand, this first-time hiker got her fancy movie moment after all.